The Texas Legal Market: at a Glance

Texas is the second-largest US state by population and, in turn, has a very diverse legal market in the major cities of Houston, Dallas and Austin. Of these cities, Houston has the largest legal market, followed by Dallas and then Austin.

Houston, Dallas and Austin are home to the headquarters of 20% of Fortune 500 companies. This is because Texas state laws have benefitted the wider business and legal market massively, with a lack of state income tax making it a very appealing location, particularly to firms from states such as California, where state income tax is particularly high. As well as that, the state’s laws are generally pro-business, meaning that Texas has huge potential growth heading into the future, especially for Austin, which has had its own tech boom in recent years.

This wealth of clients has attracted numerous new top-tier law firms to the area and the legal markets in the key cities of Houston, Dallas and Austin are thriving because of it. Whilst there are some minor concerns about US national growth, due to the presence of worldwide inflation, this does not seem to be slowing down the growth of firms within the state.

The practice areas which are set to grow substantially in Texas this year include M&A, corporate and transactions, primarily backed by private equity. However, there is also likely to be significant growth in capital markets, investment fund management and litigation. Many top-tier firms have opened in the state and those with existing offices are looking to expand further to capitalise on this growth. 

Houston, Dallas and Austin

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the whole of the US and is inarguably the energy capital of the world. M&A and corporate transactional work within this sector dominates the market, making Lawyers who possess these skills a very hot property. When you consider the very sparse number of top-tier candidates, it creates a candidate driven market, where pay scales are constantly increasing, as are signing bonuses.

Dallas has a much more diverse legal market than Houston. Whilst Dallas is also heavily dominated by energy, as well as oil and gas, there are also significant markets for healthcare, banking and finance, real estate and corporate.

Austin is a significantly smaller market than both Houston and Dallas but is growing extensively, due to its own tech boom. This has made IP work a huge practice area within this location, attracting numerous big firms, including Kirkland & Ellis and Gunderson Dettmer to the area.